Civilization and its Discontents

Civilization and its Discontents - once again

The problem with the News of the World scandal (Phone hacking etc, July 2011) is echoed in a number of tabloids yet it is not an ethical dilemma related solely to the media community neither to individuals such as Rupert Murdoch nor to his erstwhile editors. Schiller, shortly after the chaos of the French Revolution suggested, in his ‘aesthetic letters,’ that a culture in disarray prevents anyone from perceiving principles. In the current British dilemma we see editors, owners, politicians, and police, all compromised. As noted by many, the current Prime Minister seemed slow, almost impotent to act, perhaps because of the web of deceit he had become entangled in also. The influence of this, so called, newspaper is far reaching and insidious.

Legal and legislative procedures will probably follow but they are only a temporary expediency. Suppression and repression never works in the long haul. What lingers in the darkness of the unconscious will remain and only seep out somewhere else, probably in another guise, and in a more malignant form. The dilema needs to be examined there in its depth, and at its roots. In addition, certain members of the British public are part of the same malaise; they are, after all, part of the unethical and economic support the gutter press receives year after year. 

What of the problem? It is systemic.The influence of this type of media is pervasive, pointing to levels of institutionalized corruption in a wide array of complicity. We have seen the economic and banking betrayal of dreams for many now heres another glimpse of how far we have really sunk and how extensive this dysfunctional network is. Still, the root lies in the individual and it is an internal problem which moves ultimately to the collective arena encouraging more bad behaviour and finding more support. The cry of justification, “Well he does it too,” then rings in our ears trying vainly to persuade us its all OK. Bread and circuses puts us to sleep. All is well until, one day we are rudely awakened from our dumbed down state. 

Unless we as a people make a choice to look within and take honest stock of ourselves and tackle it at the roots, this malaise will only get worse. Culture is a powerful influence. We are steeped in it on a daily basis. The child, unable to consider it all in terms of criticism, evaluation, and consequences, drinks it in, literaly as an early formative experience. It all seems acceptable, normal, a mileau to which he or she belongs but If we grow up with triviality, chances are we will live triviality, if we grow up with sleaze we indulge ourselves in sleaze and if we are betrayed in infancy or a little further down the line we engage ourselves in resentment and then in rage and we take revenge; the childs response, not the suff of citizenship upon which democracy rests. 

Empathy, the good stuff born in the arly relationships the child forms with parents is, however part and parcel of our early secure base and our later ideals. This has been established as a neccessary foundation already, in work by Erickson, Maslow, Bowlby, Hagman, and others. It is a root a template upon which we build and the beginning of a formative journey towards the aesthetics Schiler spoke of al those years ago. It leads to the expression of empathy in respectfull and warm relationships and it flows into values; all those things we hold sacred, the primary realationship of nurture, the values held within the broader community, and our creativity opening to principles which inform, educate, and delight; open to an advance into the kind of novelty nobody would object to in the end and where no one gets hurt.  All this is a far cry from the violations of trust this episode brought down upon us. There is nothing here which speaks of or draws out the best among us. 

The problem is threefold. The first points to the problem of individual growth, the ongoing search for authenticity, integrity, identity, character, and calling. Within this journey authenticity and principles is the opening of the road to the recovery of virtue. This can only come from th etrue self and one might add it also points towards profound, personal satisfaction. The second, the family, the crucible of our experiences, has to look to values such as commitment, love, stability, joy and all the things we might inherit as a template, our road map for the future. The third, education might do well to further support the internal potential of the child not only of his or her brain but in the development of character and the exploration of calling, the whole self, not just a fragment. This requires some thought. Just how do we introducing the enhancement of character into our curriculums without being too intrusive. It demands a new type of teacher for the most part an dnew methods with deeper understanding. A child holding true to inner qualities and innate talent is more likely to put them to use within the framework of our society in a way in which a contented and creative soul, such as this, becomes a healthy addition to our community, not a deadbeat or an irascible. There has to be an awakening to the fact that innate nature is, furhtermore, an adventure, the extreme sport of the inner world of the evolving psyche and what it might manifest in terms of healthy creativity to the wonderment of all; fun, an expection of joy in life, an adventure for all. Yet we trade this for the big lie.

Culture needs these values before it can claim the epithet. It requires common consent, it needs you and I but if we undertake the task to clear the psychological and spiritual landscape in a serious and methodical way like this, aesthetics i.e. values, principles, ethics, empathy, and joy, will make itself more available to us, enabling a transformation of our present cultural wasteland. It wont be an overnight miracle and it requires, hard thinking, choice, wisdom, and dedication but when will we start, if not today?

I have never indulged myself with The News of the World, the Sun or any other similar tabloid. They don't serve humanity in any meaningful way. They are at best distractions from the real tasks of life. At worst they divert and pervert the innate sense of decency we all might participate in and weaken the will to improve ourselves. They set civilization rolling down the hill like a rock destined for the lowest point.

When asked what he thought of Western civilization

Indian political and spiritual leader (1869 - 1948) Mahatma Ghandi replied “I think it would be a good idea.”